New Year is Coming

New year is the most important holiday in Japan and everywhere is gearing up for it. Outside my office today, loads of cute girls dressed as Santa were tempting us passers-by to loosen our purse strings in order to buy the New Year's TV Times, which by the way, came complete with loads of goodies from the Japanese pop group SMAP. You would have thought that after ten years a boy band would have lost its popularity, especially when they can't sing and are no longer as cute as they used to be, but not here in Japan.Even the local shrine in Hikawadai doesn't want to be left behind and is busily erecting tents, so that come New Years Day, we locals will be able buy loads of charms from them. Also the number of drunk business men on the trains is up this month as they all stagger home after pissing it up at one of the numerous 'End of Year' parties. I wish I could join them, but for me it just seems to be work and yet more work.